


In the Merry Month

by voxmyriad



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Everybody Lives, F/M, For great justice, I'm choking a little, Making some stuff up, Nobody is Dead, Shire Fluff, Wedding Fluff, hobbit fluff, seriously so much fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 09:30:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1130990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voxmyriad/pseuds/voxmyriad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kíli and Tauriel ruin Bilbo's very very peaceful (boring) day when they show up on his doorstep and announce they've almost eloped, except for the being-married part. What better place to be married than the Shire?</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Merry Month

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me in the vision of Bilbo grumbling about answering his door and being greeted by breathless, grinning Kíli and Tauriel, holding hands and babbling about how they'd run off together from their respective kingdoms. Then I realized that Hobbits throw the best parties, put it all together, and it became this.
> 
> Entirely unbeta'd, first draft, all the mistakes probably, I just needed to put this out there so it would stop chewing on me.

It was a lovely morning, a lovely lovely peaceful morning. The sun smiled on the green fields, the only sound was the distant call of water birds flying from the pond to the stream, there was nothing pressing. Bilbo was already back from the morning market and as he sat down to a sturdy elevenses of a baked egg and toast, it occurred to him again that even though he thought often about his adventures (with the rose-colored glasses brought on by five years' distance from the events)—even though he did sometimes miss his friends, even though occasionally the long days spent pottering around his tidy Bag End sometimes pressed on him like a vise inside his chest—how _nice_ it was to have a lovely lovely peaceful morning.

He was just sprinkling a pinch of fresh pepper over his egg when the front door bell rang, and immediately Bilbo was transported back to that peaceful evening that had been shattered by just such a bell-ringing. But Dwalin's ring had been authoritative and even somewhat impatient, much like the Dwarf himself as it turned out, and this one was much quieter.

Muttering to himself about interrupting a Hobbit's digestion, Bilbo slipped to the front hall and peered out the window. No trace of the Sackville-Bagginses, or indeed anyone he recognized, but there was someone tall out there, that much he could see. Tall and dressed in traveling clothes of fine worn brown leather and dark green cloth. Must be lost, he thought with a resigned sigh as he reached for the handle, but the grinning face that greeted him as he pulled the door open was one he certainly knew, and had never expected to see again on his doorstep.

"Mr. Baggins!" Kíli cried, and now Bilbo could see that the tall traveler was the red-haired Elf he remembered from Mirkwood, the one who had spoken to the Elvenking when Bilbo had thought himself caught.

"Well, bless me!" Bilbo gaped for a moment longer than was strictly polite, especially when he spotted the Elf's fingers laced through Kíli's, and her identical beaming smile. "Bless me," he repeated and stepped back quickly. "Come in, come in! My goodness, if you'd asked me what to expect from this morning, I should certainly _not_ have thought of this!"

Kíli fairly bounded into the front hall, looking around him with a satisfied sigh. "All the same, eh? D'you see, _Idùzhib_ , I said it would be and I was right!"

The Elf— _Tauriel_ , whispered Bilbo's memory, she'd saved Kíli's life in Laketown after the Orc arrow hit his leg and the wound turned bad—floated in after him with an indulgent smile. Bilbo noticed that their hands stayed together until the last moment before Kíli started unwrapping his traveling cloak, a light gray thing clasped with a green enameled leaf, beautiful little piece and definitely Elven.

Tauriel, unlike Gandalf, deftly avoided hitting her head on the hanging light, and did not seem to mind being quite oversized for his little house. " _Le suilannon_ , Bilbo Baggins," she said, unwrapping her own cloak, and Bilbo puffed up proudly, for he had taken to studying Sindarin over the past year.

" _Ni meren le govaded_ ," he said, a little too stiff and careful for the liquid syllables, but he was rewarded with a surprised smile. "It's lovely to, er, truly _meet_ you at last."

"And you as well. Intrepid burglar that you are, and prison-breaker too."

"Ah, yes. Well, I was left with no choice, you see," Bilbo began to explain, but Kíli headed him off with a shake of his head.

"No hard feelings, Bilbo, not to worry. Tauriel's since told me she thinks your barrel idea was a bit brilliant."

"The word I used was 'remarkable'," she was quick to point out as their hands crept together again. "The word I might have used was 'foolhardy.' But it was also quite brilliant," she added to Bilbo. "Once my anger had cooled. The trapdoor oversight has been corrected since, however, I should warn you."

The three of them laughed over it for a minute or so more before Bilbo remembered himself. "You must be exhausted. Do come in, sit down wherever you like. I'll put the kettle on. What would you like to eat?" he called back as he disappeared toward the pantry. "I've some lovely fresh vegetables just picked today, and mushrooms, and some fish, or this side of bacon--oh." Bilbo's face reappeared, wreathed in wonder. "I know Dwarves eat anything but green things, and in Rivendell the Elves ate nothing _but_ green things. How is this—are you—but you're—oh _dear_." He disappeared back into the pantry, muttering about salads and roasts.

"Anything will suit, please," Tauriel's clear voice came to him from the parlor. "You stayed so briefly, we could not show you proper hospitality, but we of Mirkwood do not eat 'nothing but green things.'"

"Aye, you should see what this one can put away!" Kíli added, and a quiet yelp made Bilbo smile. "It's all in praise!" he protested, and Bilbo forestalled further discussion by reappearing.

"I've a lovely cold leg of lamb," he said and was satisfied to see both faces light up. "I'll put that out, shall I? And perhaps a cheese, I seem to recall my cheeses being particularly sought after."

He put a stop to all attempts to help, bustling back and forth from the pantry to the little table until it fairly groaned under the weight of everything: fresh vegetables lightly steamed, a wheel of cheese (with cheese knife), two baskets of fresh baked rolls, a bit of cold chicken. The leg of lamb, cooked to a perfect medium rare, had pride of place at the center of the table. Tea was prepared, a chamomile-mint blend with raspberries of which Bilbo was particularly fond, and a bottle of elderflower wine, clear as water, set out as well, for this was certainly a special occasion. Kíli protested almost each time he returned, trying to get up and do something to help, but Tauriel said nothing and kept a firm hold of his hand.

In fact, Bilbo needed the trips back and forth and the busyness of hosting to give himself time to adjust to this really very unexpected visit. He had been idly thinking recently that he might like to travel back to Erebor, see how things were progressing, say hello to all his old friends, and he had wondered too if he might receive visitors, though the Shire was hardly on the way to anywhere important. This was a turn-up for the books, he thought as he finally poured out the rosy-red tea and sat down.

"Well, tuck in," he said, beaming. There was little conversation at first and Bilbo had guessed right, both travelers were clearly ravenous. Bilbo noticed that Kíli was a bit tidier in his eating without the presence of the other Dwarves, and Tauriel did indeed have some of everything, and complimented him on the lamb. Finally, Kíli swallowed down the last of his slice of chicken on a roll and burped appreciatively.

Bilbo stood to refill their teacups and made up a new pot of tea before returning and sitting again. "Not that it isn't lovely to see you, because of course it is, but I really must ask," he began, and got no further.

"Eloped," Kíli said, as if that explained everything. Bilbo just blinked at him, so he reached for Tauriel's hand again and held it up. "We've eloped," he clarified, and Bilbo huffed a bit.

"You've _eloped_ ," he repeated, and Kíli nodded. Tauriel looked away in a vain attempt to keep from smiling as she studied his dining room, clearly fascinated by the curved walls and wainscoting. Bilbo would be happy to talk about Bag End, of course, but first _this_ had to be cleared up. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Well, y'see, after the Battle…we weren't on such good terms with the Elves, and, well, it seemed like the best idea to just…part." Kíli's fingers tightened reflexively on Tauriel's and she returned the pressure, looking back at him as if to reassure him that yes, she was really present. "So we tried. We had work to do anyway, rebuilding and all, so she went back to Mirkwood and I stayed in Erebor. Didn't see each other for three years."

"But then the King Under the Mountain—"

"Thorin," Kíli supplied. Bilbo clenched his hands under the table at the idle dropping of a name he hadn't heard in years.

"—invited the Elvenking and his retinue to Erebor, to repair old wounds," Tauriel continued as if he hadn't interrupted, "and I was a part of that."

"It was like looking into the past," Kíli remembered with a faint, sad smile. "So much had changed for us in the Mountain in just three years, but she looked the same. Just…exactly the same. I was sure I'd remembered wrong, but no, there she was, still as lovely as I remembered. More, even."

Bilbo watched, a little fascinated, as an Elf blushed. It was just over her high cheekbones and the tips of her ears, but there it was. He hadn't thought Elves _could_.

"We didn't have a chance to talk that time, but I don't think we looked at anything else but each other the whole time the Kings were talking," Kíli confessed, glancing at her, and Tauriel nodded her confirmation with a smile of remembrance. "But that was it for me. I knew I'd never stop loving her. I started mooning about, spending time outside at the top of the mountain, looking at the stars. Then I started wondering what she'd do if she couldn't see the stars anymore, so I made her something."

Tauriel reached for a slender chain around her neck—mithril, Bilbo recognized it immediately—and brought out a necklace, a teardrop-shaped black opal that glittered like the night sky, wreathed in a setting made of the most delicate silver stars. "He made me this," she said, slipping it over her head. Bilbo suddenly remembered the falls of red hair he'd seen while sneaking invisibly past the Captain and the keen-eared Elvenking, and now he saw that it was missing because most of it was bound up in the intricate braids and plaits the Dwarves used, clasped with copper engraved with Dwarvish runes.

He reached out and took it as carefully as he could, turning it to admire the way the opal took in the warm sunbeams and threw back perfect white edged in red and blue. Starlight, it really was, the _deep_ kind of starlight only found in the high places. "He made this in the hope that I would return. I almost did not," she admitted. "Seeing him had made me begin wondering again. I wanted to be strong. My mind knew it could not be as I wished it to be. But in the end I succumbed to what I thought was weakness, and I returned to Erebor when the Elvenking returned."

"And I managed to track her down alone so I could give it to her in peace," Kíli put in.

"He had not slept in weeks, it seemed to me," she said, giving him a reproving look.

"I needed to finish it before you came!" Kíli protested, looking wounded. "It wasn't much, I wasn't even sure she'd like it, but it had to be perfect. It was for her."

Bilbo held up the necklace, letting it hang from his fingers and turn gently in the air. Tauriel watched it as she murmured, "No one had ever…" She trailed off and Kíli simply leaned his shoulder against hers. "There were questions when I returned with it. The others—my friends, those I had known all my life—they believed I was merely indulging a lovesick child. Some were disgusted, others laughed, but my quiet hope that perhaps I _could_ have what I wished…they showed me that I could not. Legolas alone knew my private thoughts, and although he did not understand—he still does not understand—he could see my sadness."

"So we ran off," Kíli said, and although Bilbo had been expecting to hear it, he still gasped in awed surprise.

"But your family!" he said as he replaced the gem in Tauriel's palm and she slipped it back over her head. "Surely they're" —furious— "worried!"

"They were," Kíli admitted. "Worried, and angry to boot. Dwalin's still wondering where he went wrong. But we sent word back from Rivendell that we'd gone, and we were to marry."

"You've been to _Rivendell_ together?" Bilbo blurted as a vivid vision of Elrond's shocked expression came to mind, and Tauriel burst into musical laughter. "Sorry, sorry," he quickly added. "I was just…my goodness. I'm happy, I'm so happy for you both!"

Surprised to find he was blinking tears back, Bilbo busied himself with the elderflower wine, untouched thus far, and poured them out three glasses. "To both of you, my dear dear friends!" he said as he held his glass high. They toasted with a blessing in Sindarin and again with another in Khuzdul, and Kíli nearly fell over laughing at Tauriel's terrible pronunciation.

The wine was warm within them as Bilbo sat, smiling at the unlikely pair, so clearly and deeply in love. "You were married in Rivendell, then?" he asked as he refilled their tiny glasses from the dwindling bottle.

Tauriel shook her head as Kíli leaned back, comfortable against her shoulder as her arm settled around him. "We've not _married_ yet, as such," he said. "Too busy traveling to stay put long enough. And, well, folk ask questions."

"You're not—" Bilbo stood up so suddenly his chair tipped over backward. "You must be married here!"

Kíli blinked and sat up. "Here?" he repeated, looking around at Bilbo's dining room as if imagining the ceremony taking place in such an impractical space.

"Here, here in the Shire! Here in Hobbiton!" He was so pleased with the idea that he did a quick little two-step.

"You mean you'd…you want to throw us a wedding?" Kíli asked carefully, clearly certain that he'd misunderstood.

"I would like nothing better," Bilbo said firmly, pounding his fist on the table to punctuate it. "You deserve it. And it's just the right time of year."

"But we would not wish to put you out," Tauriel began, but Bilbo waved her down.

"Tush, not in the least! If there's one thing we Hobbits enjoy, it's a wedding! We throw a very good party, if I do say so myself."

"You don't think folk'll mind?" Kíli asked, glancing up at Tauriel uncertainly before looking back at Bilbo.

"Mind? Mind what? Most of 'em have never seen an Elf _or_ a Dwarf, what questions are they likely to ask? Plus you're one of the Company! I've told them all sorts of stories about you, they'll be too excited to mind! Yes, yes, this will certainly work," Bilbo crowed, already beginning to make plans. This would shake off his creeping sense of discontent, he thought, and he'd likely never be married himself, so how could he pass up this chance to plan a wedding?

Kíli and Tauriel had identical stunned expressions when he turned back to them. They looked so alike he nearly started laughing again. "We could never repay you!" Kíli said.

"Repay, who said I wanted repayment? It'll be my pleasure! Consider it my wedding gift."

They looked at each other again, in a silent conversation, and finally Tauriel squeezed Kíli's hand and looked up. "We are blessed to have such a generous friend," she said firmly. "We accept. But you must let us help," she added quickly.

"Ho, that I'll do! It'll be no small task, you know, and after all, you're the bride!" Bilbo beamed at her. "Elven wedding customs, what a fascinating subject. And Dwarvish customs as well!"

"And Hobbit customs," Tauriel reminded him. "We would honor your people."

This last was too much for the tender-hearted Hobbit and he was finally overcome. Tears streaming down his cheeks, he lifted his glass again. "Welcome, welcome, my friends, welcome. You are always welcome here." He drained his glass, pulled out his handkerchief, blew his nose, wiped his eyes, put it away again, and cleared his throat. "Now, I know you're simply exhausted, so first you must rest, but then there's much to be done!"

**Author's Note:**

>  ~~Wedding planning in the next chapter, drunken reception shenanigans after that, I really hope I can keep this going. Drunken shenanigans will almost certainly turn cracky, especially if family gets invited. Also I can't decide whether to nudge this in the Bagginshield direction or not, your thoughts? It'll go that way if it goes that way, but for now I think I'll keep the focus on the happy couple \o/~~ Okay so I cannot get my inspiration back for this adorable story, but if anyone wants to write Kíli and Tauriel having a Hobbit wedding, PLEASE DO, they deserve one. Cheers to you all, thank you for leaving such lovely comments. Good luck to us all with the release of BOFA. We will all weep very soon, I think.  <3
> 
> Idùzhib - "diamond" (Khuzdul endearment shamelessly stolen from [Sansûkh](http://archiveofourown.org/works/855528) by determamfidd)  
> Le suilannon - "I give greetings to you"  
> Ni meren le govaded - "I am joyous to meet you"


End file.
